The Infinite Question

The Infinite Question

In The Infinite Question, Christopher Bollas presents the notes from
three cases, along with his own supervisory comments. The pages are
printed Talmud-style, with the text of the analysand’s associations
along with the analyst’s interventions in one column, and in an
adjacent column Bollas’s observations on the meaning of the process as
a whole. This is excellent sport. If you want, you can second-guess
the analysand, the analyst and the supervisor. But, to keep the Jewish
association going, it is even more fun to read the book from back to
front. It has an appendix which gives the complete case notes without
the supervisor’s comments. One should, I think, start there; then turn
to the middle of the book, where one can reread the material along
with Bollas’s comments. The introduction can be read as though it were
his conclusion.